Festival of Unleavened Bread

The Festival of Unleavened Bread most likely has its roots in an agricultural ritual, which was later merged with the Passover celebrations. The festival lasted for seven days and began on the 15th day of the first month.

The festival coincided with the barley harvest. Before bread was baked with the new grain, the old leaven would have been removed from people’s houses and for a week, the people would eat unleavened bread. After that, bread would be made with new leaven. This ritual symbolised a “new start” and a break with the past.

In Leviticus 23:5-6, the Festival of Unleavened Bread is mentioned separately. But in Exodus 12:15, the festival is intertwined with the Passover. From that moment onwards, the leaven came to symbolise both the “great haste” of the Exodus as well as the time when Israel became God’s chosen people.